<p>I thought that I read somewhere that the recommendation should be from a science or math teacher and the other recommendation should be from a language arts or non science or math teacher. I went looking at the recommendation section of common app and don't see specific guidelines on this. My son is very much into math and science and only applying to schools with a focus on math and science. Does he need a language arts teacher to do a recommendation? He currently has his math and physics teacher ready to do recommendation and his baseball coach (who is a history teacher but never taught him as a student). I am just interested in want the community thinks or does someone know where I find quidlines if there are any.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>There is no blanket rec requirement, it varies by college. The requirement you speak of is not a common app requirement, but a requirement of specific schools. It is usually better to have two recs from different fields (stem and humanities/LA), however, unless the school specifically requires it, you can get recs from whomever you please.</p>
<p>Thanks so much guineagirl96. Maybe I did see it on a specific college application. I will go back through the ones that he is applying to. All his language and history teachers from last year quit so I am not sure what we will do if one does require humanities teacher. </p>
<p>The most important consideration should be to choose a teacher(s) that know your child best. Perhaps the teacher knows the student in a context that extends outside the classroom. As a Math teacher I get many requests from my STEM students, but some other students ask me because some schools ask specifically for Math.</p>
<p>If a Humanities letter is required you should contact the teacher who knows him best even if you need to go back a year or two.</p>
<p>On the CA page where the recommendations are listed, on the right there are a bunch of boxes. Most are generic, but some schools put specific guidance in them.</p>
<p>A coach who never taught him as a student would be an “extra” recommendation from what I understand.</p>
<p>My son has an academic and a non-academic and I told him he really needs to ask another academic so he will have math and science as he is pursuing STEM.</p>
<p>Some schools don’t take more than one, some will require one and take more. </p>
<p>I don’t think a non-STEM teacher is needed if he is doing STEM.</p>